Surely we can't be alone in our endless fascination with the tandoori oven, a cylindrical-shaped clay oven that facilitates a large amount of the cooking done in South Asia. Imagine an upright high-test jet engine -- glowing, roaring and sputtering -- powered with the smoky hellfire of a barbecue pit, equipped to churn out buttery swaths of naan, juicy grilled seekh kebabs, or brick-red tandoori chickens with the same frequency that Neapolitan pizza ovens spit out char-flecked pies.

At Al-Watan, the oven reigns supreme. A plate of (halal) tandoori chicken arrives on a sizzling cast-iron platter, moist and succulent from its overnight soak in yogurt and spices and chopped into rough sections before being tossed with slivers of raw onion and wedges of lemon. Like many great meals that involve flame-cooked meats, you will dig in with your hands -- which will become saturated with the smell of woodsmoke and exotic spices. There is a squeeze bottle of cool watery yogurt sauce mixed with coriander, too, intended to provide respite.

Garrett Snyder is a food writer and cookbook author based in Los Angeles whose work has appeared in outlets such as the L.A. Times, Los Angeles magazine, Tasting Table, Punch, GQ and KCRW. He enjoys tiki drinks and Taco Tuesdays.